“If they didn’t cheer for their team or boo the other team, that would worry me,” Hamtpon said. “This doesn’t bother me. They’re baseball fans.”

And angry ones, at that.

Hampton has been jeered with almost every breath he has taken at Shea Stadium since jilting the Mets for Colorado as a free agent four years ago. That animosity shows no signs of dissipating.

The sellout crowd didn’t relent throughout Hampton’s miserable return to Shea, which ended with two outs in the third inning after the southpaw surrendered nine hits and seven runs in the Mets’ 10-6 triumph over the Braves.

“If they want to get on me, that’s fine,” Hampton said. “I can handle it.”

Perhaps, but he wasn’t very successful.

While manager Bobby Cox offered excuses about how Hampton’s luck was largely to blame since all the Mets’ ground balls found their way to the outfield, Hampton knew better.